The Palais Nikaïa will be the venue for the fifth edition of X-Trial Nice, the opening round of the 2022 FIM X-Trial World Championship that kicks off on Friday 11 March at 20:30 local time.
A regular venue for the X-Trial of Nations in recent years, Nice will offer a spectacular and demanding course, while the new format of the competition adds even more intrigue to the season opener.
This 2022 season, the eight drivers will begradually eliminated until they reach three, who will be the ones who will fight for the podium. The first two laps consist of five zones, only the first six drivers will qualify for the second lap where the riders will continue to compete with the same points they had in the initial phase, only in the final round will the slate be cleared to distribute the podiums.
X-TRIAL 2022 RIDERS
This 2022 features the first three riders of the last X-Trial. Toni Bou, with his
Montesa-HRC
who will start his bid for a sixteenth consecutive world title, but will again be forced to deal with his closest rivals Adam Raga, with TRRS and Jaime Busto, with
Vertigo
. Raga, a four-time world champion and ten-time silver medallist, has finished second to Bou in each of the past six seasons, while three-time bronze medallist Busto is considered the next-generation man to take over from the two veterans.
A total of five different nationalities will be represented this season, with the leading Spanish trio joined by riders from Italy, Norway, Great Britain and France. Home hopes lie in Benoit Bincaz, who finished fourth in three previous championships but missed the shortened 2021 schedule with injury; this year he debuts with Gas
Gas
after leaving Beta at the beginning of winter.
Italian Matteo Grattarola, who rides a
Beta
, was the revelation of the 2021 season, finishing fourth at the Andorra la Vella X-Trial and fifth overall. His teammate Sondre Haga is the only Norwegian to have competed in the X-Trial World Championship. And TRRS
driver Toby Martyn completes the field, hoping to move up from the number eight spot in the world rankings he held last year.
WHO WILL BE THE LOCAL DRIVER?
Local challenger Téo Colairo will be the first rider to head out to the X-Trial zones of Nice, making his second appearance as a Wild Card after his World Championship debut at the X-Trial de Marseille in 2019.
